We're unashamedly big music nerds here at Amoeba Hollywood, and we love to talk and reminisce about our favorite records with each other. We also like to debate their historical relevance. Sometimes these conversations can get pretty impassioned, as it did on the fateful date I exclaimed Aztec Camera's 1983 release High Land, Hard Rain to be one of the best records of the '80s.

Oops...that statement was met with mild laughter and ridicule from two of my co-workers. I realized pretty quickly that it was a very tall claim considering the wealth of great music that emerged over the course of that decade. The truth is, I was forced into justifying that statement by making a top-ten list of my favorite '80s records. It was a daunting task that took a fair amount of soul searching, but it was a lot of fun. It was also very infectious, and over the next couple of days a dozen other people made their top ten lists, and within a few weeks the number grew to over 100 Amoebites.

The '80s were witness to many divergent and popular styles of music, and from the beginning we realized that it would be impossible for most of us to condense our favorites from all the genres we like into a tiny top ten list. There's just too much good stuff out there. So, we limited this list to Rock/Pop and its sub genres like punk, metal, goth, and new wave. Even so, it was still a difficult selection process because not only are there hundreds of amazing records to consider, there is also the added dynamic of time.

The '80s were a long time ago and the music has had many years to gestate. We have a deep sense of nostalgia and sentiment with these albums as our fondest memories are associated with them. These are albums that we LOVE.